Thursday, 28 February 2013

2013 has been called the year of the Comets by Astronomers around the World for a reason. It's a year that Three or more Major comets will be Grazing by our earth and hopefully putting up a grand show of our lifetime. But the main reason is Comet ISON ( C 2012 S1 iSON ) , which will be passing by our earth this November and predicted to shine as bright as the '' Moon ''....!!! Wow !! You read it right, if things goes according to predictions, this baby will be a sight to behold. Just like Comet Hyakutake of 1996, it's tail would have stretch across 3/4 of the night sky.

This is a Pic of Comet Hyakutake taken back in April of 1996. If things goes as plan this is what we may likely see this coming November.

Now back to the other comets that are considered Major events for this year. Firstly, comet LEMMON ( Which is grazing the southern skies now ) and is fading. It's the First among the three comet in our list and is visible just on top of comet Panstarrs right now. They both share the night sky this coming months.

Here's a Pic of Comet Lemmon shot recently by Rolando Ligustri of Australia. It's now a Mag 4 comet.

The Next one is of course Comet PanSTARRS ( C/ 21012 L4 ). This Comet is curently visible in the southern continent of Australia and New Zealand. It's special because it's a Twilight comet and is easy to search as it's just above the setting Sun over the Horizon. This is also a good chance for folks living along the west coast of malaysia to have a look at a Live comet ( Many have never seen a comet in their entire Life ). It's for this reason that I am organizing a Comet watch/ Star Party / Astrophotography and Creative Photography Outing for my friends and fellow Forumerd over at Chiaroscuro.net.This is also a good chance for our friends and fellow photographers to get together and have Fun. It's also a time to share and learn from one another. Here we are all equal and everyone has the right to voice and share their opinion on any subjects matters.A Latest Pic of Comet Panstarrs shot by George Ionas of New Zealand ( 27th of Feb ).

This is a Sky Chart from Sky & Telescope with the dates and viewing directions.

Recent brightness estimates indicate that the comet could be
experiencing a surge or “second wind” after plateauing in brightness the
past few weeks. If the current trend continues, PanSTARRS might reach
1st or 2nd magnitude or a little brighter than the stars of the Big
Dipper when it first becomes visible to northern hemisphere sky watchers
around March 7. That’s little more than two weeks away!

For Now lets just concentrate on Comet Panstarrs this coming weeks and have fun while were're at it. Below is my official Logo of the Comet watching event.

This is only the first of two Major Star gazing events i have for the year.. The second will be held around November, and that will be a Major one .... ( COMET ISON ) !!! For further info on the outing and a Detailed intinerary of the event, Please log into our 4/3's site here : http://mychiaroscuro.net/forums/showthread.php?t=7172So finally, what has The Year of the water Snake has to do with all this comets ?? In my fun opinion it has to do with '' Water '', and since most comets are made up mostly Ice, and has a tail, doesn't that reminds you of the Water sssssnake ??? And to cap it all, a comet over the sky looks like a snake falling fro the skies ...Ha.Ha.!!! Just my candid explanations of the Mythological world of Zodiacs and Astrology.Remember, all are welcome and feel free to drop by if you're anywhere near here.Cheers ...!!!Regards ..... Uncle James Moh.